0fx

I would also note that "digital dissenter" is not a term that Taylor applies to herself. A(n admittedly cursory) Google search seems to suggest that it was made up by the article's author.

Agreed. There's a lot wrong with the article. It touched on mass surveillance, capitalism, government regulation, the gig economy and other issues without really tying them together in any coherent way.

In addition, I wouldn't characterize someone who owns an iPhone and a laptop as a "digital dissenter" or a "techno-skeptic", but the story uses both of these terms to describe Taylor and some of the other subjects of the article. I think these are both poorly chosen terms that smack of Luddism and, unsurprisingly, Taylor & co. are likened to Luddites later in the article. The article itself suggests that an appropriate term for them might be "humanists", but I guess that wasn't as likely to get clicks as "techno-skeptics."

I was also amused by the criticism of Lanier's idea of micropayments for content creators. The objection was that it might encourage people to record clickbait or "hey, y'all, hold my beer and watch THIS!" stunts, as if Youtube isn't already teeming with exactly that sort of content.

Use electrical tape. It's cheap and effective, but comes off easily when you need it to. Comes in several colors, too.

A company demanding that I provide a Facebook or Twitter login to sell me goods or services would lose my business immediately and permanently.

The article you posted is not a refutation, let alone a convincing one. This was a bored Sheldon Adelson toying with a reporter in an informal context while waiting for an event to resume.

There are people who use bash enough--and in such a way--that they'd benefit from this kind of .bash_history backup and analysis.

There are people who would not be wary of sending this kind of information remotely to be stored by someone else.

But I think the intersection of these types would be small.